The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith

by Justin Miller

  Another thing required for enchanting was a diagram. This was needed to create any enchantments aside from basic inscriptions, so it was also needed in order to apply the activation method. Thankfully, the tutorial showed a basic enchanting diagram that I quickly copied onto a piece of paper.

  Okay, so, do I need the incantation or not? I’ll assume not for now, because he isn’t going to be using the announce or dimensional features of the spell. I put one of the copper coins onto the paper, and my hand over the coin. Focusing, I concentrated on the individual runes for the Message spell, as if I was going to cast it. Then, I let my mana pour down into the diagram on the paper and fill the coin.

  “Okay… step one complete, I think…” I looked down to the paper, and the diagram was glowing steadily. “Now, for the activation conditions.” I put my index finger on the coin and closed my eyes. Using my mana to paint the picture, I imagined myself picking up the coin and reciting the word ‘Message’. Then, it was as if I folded up the entire scene into a ball and threw it into the coin. When I opened my eyes this time, the diagram was no longer glowing. But now, the coin itself had a faint glow to it.

  Enchanting has increased to 2

  I sent a quick Message to Denise to call her down, and when she arrived I tossed the coin to her. “Mind testing that out for me? Won’t do any good if I try it myself.”

  “Uhm.. okay… what is it and how?” Denise looked curiously down to the glowing coin in her hand.

  “I call it a Call Token. Basically, just hold the coin up and say Message, followed by who you want to call. It should activate the spell in the coin like when I cast the spell myself.”

  “Huh, neat. Alright… uh… let’s see.” She held the coin up, and closed her eyes. “Message, Dariel.” She waited for a few moments and the light from the coin faded away. I was just about to assume that it had failed when she suddenly jumped in surprise. “Huh? Woah.. weird. Uh, sorry. Denise here. Jin gave me this coin and said to call someone… guess he’s finally figured out enchanting. Yeah, I’ll tell him.”

  Suddenly, she was looking to me and smirking. Why did I feel like I was back in my world watching someone talk on a cell phone? “Thanks, you too. Talk to you later. Yeah, he told me. Bye.” Denise giggled slightly and looked at me. “She said to tell you it’s about time.”

  “Of course she did. But at least we know the coins work. I can make a couple to send with Kev, and see about making some more complicated items for our own use.”

  “Saving the best for us, huh?”

  I smiled to her. “Of course. Once I get good at this, I should be able to make some pretty interesting items.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” She smiled and went to lay down on the bed. I made sure the ship was firmly on auto-pilot and joined her.

  The next day, Kev returned to check on our progress, and I gave him two of the completed Call Tokens. Since we still had over a full day of sailing yet, he didn’t really feel the need to stick around the entire time. Unlike with the merchant caravan he had traveled with, he had neither the need nor ability to protect us if something bad happened.

  Well, that’s all the better, I suppose. Won’t have to hold back with him gone. It would be troublesome if he found out about our true abilities, with his connections to that information network. Surely people would be swarming just like they had the other mage. He did, however, tell us that he passed along the information about what was required to graduate from the Mages’ College.

  As a result, several people apparently quit their attempts to graduate immediately, and were instead determined to just learn the bare necessity to make their own magic classes. Can they really call themselves mages if they settle for the bare necessity? I shook my head at the thought.

  It wasn’t until later, a few hours after Kev logged back out, that we had our first encounter on the high seas. Off in the horizon, I could see two large ships ahead of us. They were still too far to register on the detection crystal, but once I activated my Scan spell, it was clear what their purpose was.

  “Denise!” I called out to her, as she was sitting in the cabin after having been on watch for a while.

  “Huh? What?” She slowly came out and looked to me.

  “Black sails and cross bones. You’re about to tell me that they mean the same thing here as they do in my world, right?” I pointed to the two ships in the distance. Their sails looked little more than specks in the distance to normal eyes, but I knew that Denise would be able to make something out.

  “Pirates. We got bloody pirates on our maiden voyage.” Denise shook her head and sighed.

  “Thought so. Shall we give them a warning?” I grinned a bit, thinking that this was the perfect chance to test a few things.

  “They probably wouldn’t be so generous, but sure.”

  “Alright. Disengaging the skeleton crew.” I exerted my control over the ship, raising the sails and turning so that our broadside was facing the pirates. “Loading first gundeck cannons with Lightning Shots.” Sure, speaking wasn’t necessary, but verbally stating your objective is a common method to focus your thoughts.

  “Finally, the warning… Wings of light, signs of beginning, may my voice reach the farthest corner. Announce!” I focused on both pirate ships, and spoke. My voice carried unnaturally far, though I wouldn’t be able to see any immediate reactions. “This is Captain Jin of the Unity. If you break off now and alter course, you will be left alone. If you fail to comply, this ship will open fire. We will not be harassed by pirates or anyone else. You have one minute.”

  With the message delivered, I raised the ship’s barrier, feeding just a bit of mana into it to start. It was just a precaution in case they attacked, so that I could quickly increase the output. Sure enough, they seemed to think they had the advantage in terms of numbers, because a minute passed and they kept their course. As if to prove themselves, they waited until the minute was over before starting to turn to reveal their own broadsides.

  “Not likely. Scan!” I focused my eyes as far as I could, using both my magic and my discovery talent to spot their ships. “Ten cannons each? Okay. First five cannons, fire!” Despite my shout, my voice was drowned out by the roar of the cannons, five lightning bolts shooting out at the first ship. They were well over a kilometer away still, but the shots landed in an instant, shredding through their ship and leaving massive holes.

  “Hmm… power seems a bit much.” I chuckled as I studied the result. I then felt a thwack on the back of my head, and turned to see that Denise had smacked me.

  “A bit?!” She glared, and then looked to the ship. “You call that a bit!? Cheat!” She sighed, but ended up smiling to me. Given that I had been looking away, the only warning I had that the second ship had fired its cannons was a dull roar in the distance.

  Immediately, I increased the power in the barrier and turned around, focusing my mind on my objective. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll only use one cannon this time, okay?” I smiled again, and the cannonballs of the other ship impacted the barrier, causing cracks to run along it. Of course, I was able to fix those cracks by just putting a bit more mana into it. Then, I shot a single Lightning Shot at the remaining ship.

  Arcane Marksman has increased to 8

  Nature Magic has increased to 7

  Sailing has increased to 11

  As before, a bolt of lightning sprang out from the Unity and tore into the distant ship, shattering a large section at the bottom. “Now, let’s try this again. Wings of light, signs of beginning, may my voice reach the farthest corners. Announce.” Once more, I focused the spell on the sinking ships, knowing that there would be those fortunate enough to get off before it was too late.

  “I gave you a chance. And now, for those of you that survived, remember this. I will not always be so lenient.” I raised the sails again, and resumed our course. Though, I made a detour to give the pirates a wide berth, circling around them until I could put the auto-pilot bac
k on.

  When I felt safe enough to turn the barrier off, I sighed and took in the results. The Lightning Shots far exceeded my predictions for their damage output. Conversely, the barrier fell short of what I hoped it would be capable of, since even attacks from that distance managed to crack it after I put so much mana into it. Likewise, the detection crystal would need to be improved with a larger radius. But with my current ability, there wasn’t anything I could do about this.

  “Denise, I’ve got some things to take care of. Mind keeping a watch again for a bit? You can rest up in the crow’s nest.” I pointed up to the small platform just above the sails.

  “For someone that just won with overwhelming firepower… you sound pretty depressed.” Denise walked up to me, her face showing concern.

  “Ah, sorry. There are areas that are really lacking in this ship, and the sooner it’s taken care of the safer we’ll be. We would have been in trouble if we hadn’t spotted those guys by chance, since they never came in range of the crystal.”

  She nodded. “Alright, but take it easy, okay? I know that this ship is a constant drain on you, but you’re allowed to rest too.”

  I smiled to her. “I will. But first I’ve got to take care of this. I should also see if there were any problems with the cannons..” I sighed, shaking my head. “And this is why normally over a hundred people pilot a ship this big.”

  She smirked to me at that. “You’re doing the work of a hundred. It won’t take me any time to check the cannons. So I’ll do that, and you just take care of what you need to do.”

  I was going to tell her what to look for, and then remembered that we essentially had the same skills when it came to sailing. In the end I could only agree. “Okay, but let me know if there were any problems with them.”

  “Aye aye, captain!” She gave me a silly salute and ran off towards the gundeck. I smiled while watching her go, and then went into the cabin.

  “First, I should see if what I want to do is possible.. Message, Lilith.”

  “Hey Jin~.” I heard her voice calling out immediately through the message, and chuckled.

  “Sounds like I didn’t surprise you this time.”

  “Nope, I was paying attention so I caught you getting ready. What do you need?”

  “I’ve just got a magic question for you. Would consult a library, but there’s not exactly one available right now.”

  “Alright, well, if I can answer you I will.”

  “Thanks. I just want to know if it is possible to strengthen an existing enchantment on an item?”

  “Usually, that depends on the enchantment. Give me an example.”

  “Okay, well my ship has a detection crystal with a range of one kilometer. But we were just in a battle where the enemy never entered that range. If we hadn’t spotted them with our eyes, it would have been bad.”

  “I see, so you want to increase the range of the crystal?”

  “Exactly. Can it be done?”

  “By normal people, it’d be easier just to buy a better crystal. But, given your stubbornness, yes it’s possible. But it’s a skill that only advanced enchanters use.”

  “Thanks. I’ll work more on my enchanting then until I can do that. Mind bringing me some items to practice on when you come to visit?”

  “Well, I suppose~. It would be a good ship-warming present after all.” She laughed at that, and I joined her.

  “Thanks. Also, if you have any more advanced books on enchanting that would help. I’ve only been able to read the basics.”

  “Hmm… about that, I’ll make you a deal.”

  “Oh? Well, this is new.” I grinned a bit, and she giggled.

  “New? Honey, I invented deals.” I had a feeling she meant that literally. “After I visit when you drop your friend off, I’ll come again in a week. Until then, I want you to try to work out the enchanting techniques on your own and show me what you came up with.”

  “Uh.. okay… mind if I ask why?” So basically, you’ll give me the book, but only after you have me try to figure it out on my own.

  “I’m interested in seeing how you will grow using your own knowledge. I know you want to hide your infernal powers for now. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Okay, maybe a little bit of a pout. But I understand. The point is that you won’t be able to get my help like this when you are around other people without being discovered.”

  “I get it. And thanks, for understanding and helping me get this done on my own. Once things change on this end, I won’t need to hide it anymore.”

  “What kind of change are you looking for, really?”

  “Same thing as you, I guess. I want to wait until the other foreigners settle down so that I’ll be accepted as a full mage without them coming after me.”

  “Okay, I’ll hold you to it. I’ll also have my people check how things are coming with that now and then. But the demons already know of your involvement and abilities. I’ve instructed them to keep the secret, but if there are any issues they will probably ask for your help.”

  “That’s fine. I’m happy to help whoever I can. Besides, most of your demons on the surface are in disguise, so there won’t be any problems if they ask for my help.”

  “True. Is there a way that we can make sure you know when I’m sending you someone, without it being too obvious?”

  “Hmm… something unique to the demons, but unknown to everyone else? What if you gave them a brooch with one of the runes I gave you? Aside from the demons, nobody but I will know what it means. And as long as the fact that it is a rune is kept secret, nobody will learn the associated magic.”

  “Good idea. You could have just asked that I avoid letting them contact you for a while. But you still want to help us, even when keeping your secret. Really, thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. Something like this is already natural, right?” I smiled a bit, sitting down in a chair.

  “Maybe, but I don’t want to feel like I am taking advantage of you.”

  “Really, now? A succubus, not wanting to take advantage of someone?”

  I heard her laughing through the call. “Sexy demons, not sex demons! I swear I’ll never live that down.”

  “Not at all.”

  Once her laugh settled down, she sounded much happier. “I needed that. See you in a couple days?”

  “You bet.”

  “Fair winds and following seas.”

  “Totally not fair, I don’t have a retort for that for Hell. So, good luck.” I could hear Lilith laughing again as I ended the call. “Okay, now to get to work.”

  I pulled out my coinpurse, emptying a large supply of copper coins onto the table. “Hello, my precious.” Glancing over to a stack of papers, I used my Customize spell to increase the number of papers I had available. “She wants me to learn this through trial and error? By god, I will learn this through trial and error!”

  Part of me was just a bit too happy to feel like I was back in class, stumbling blindly through magical lessons. I sent a quick message to Denise that I’d be busy for a while, and she seemed alright with it. She simply reminded me to get some rest myself when I could. Rest is for those with nothing better to do!

  First, I pulled out the paper with the diagram I had been using until now. Thanks to memorizing the pattern I was able to recreate it on any of the other papers with my magic, but this time I was looking at it from a different aspect. “I name thee homework.” I set the sheet down and looked at it, taking in every rune, shape, and pattern present.

  For what I wanted to do, it wasn’t enough to just know this diagram. I had to know what each individual component did, and more importantly why it did it. Did the circle act as a barrier to contain magical energies and prevent them from leaking out during the enchanting? Did the shapes in the center funnel the energy into the item? Even the runes all had a deeper meaning, though at least they were written in a language I could understand.